Terminator (Aliens, Predator, Etc.)... 4" Scale.

[Jesse James]

Interesting too, the ad for the 4" Snapkit Alien Vs. Predator figures says USCM's too Mr. PL (and others interested).  Could it be we'll see a 4" scaled Vasquez, Hicks, or the rest of the squad?

I'd take ANY of those ASAP. 

[MisterPL]

Jesse, you need to click here.

Probably not the most poseable figures in the world, but that Birth of the Hybrid boxed set has me curious. And there's your 4-inch scale Queen.

[Jesse James]

Hmmmm....  Thanks man, I appreciate these helpful links Mr.PL.

Sounds like a possible replacement, or at least temporary one, but I'm still intrigued on the Kenner set with the (likely) more poseable figure and eggs with slime.  I dig eggs with slime...  Just keep picturing a great custom diorama of Imperials stuck to the walls of her nest, slime on some...  Couple laying on the floor with their chests burst open.

Morbid, but so damn cool!

EDIT:

Part of me also holds a TREMENDOUS ammount of hope now though that McFarlane sees perhaps that the 4"-ish scale's superior...  That perhaps he'll start catering to it more.  He may make some of the worlds shittiest toys but as stand-in items they'll work, and if they're mini dioramas/playsets then the more the merrier.

[Jesse James]

Hmmm, further investigating and all the Series 2 are in the 4 to 4.5" range...  Including a captive human.  Interesting.

[MisterPL]

Jesse, check this out.

I found one of these at my local Suncoast today. They're made by a compnay named "Mirage." It looks bigger than 3 inches tall in person. Not terrific articulation (none but the shoulders and neck from what I could tell) but it could make an interesting place holder.

Personally I'm passing since $6.99 is a bit pricey for a little plastic statue, especially considering what Palisades is doing.

[Jesse James]

Thanks Mr.PL, I appreciate that...  Fodder is fodder I figure.  I'll maybe buy one just to have the pieces for droid parts and things...

The Endoskeleton is one of the best bases to doing a Dark Forces darktrooper: Phase 1, so the head alone there would be a great start.

Appreciate the link, I may take a look at Suncoast for one of those.

[MisterPL]

There's a photo of the "Birth of the Hybrid" boxed set in this month's Previews.

Basically, it's a diorama of the end of the movie, with one Predator standing guard (presumably) and another laying on the slab with the hybrid popping out of his chest.

It'll be worth it for the diorama alone. VERY nice.

[Jesse James]

Interesting indeed.  And that's a McFarlane thing, so the diorama should be pretty great itself.

What is the "hybrid" though? 

[Famine]

The hybrid is a Predalien.



Kevin

[MisterPL]

I hope you don't mind blind packaging.

Palisades has already announced their Planet of the Apes line will feature blind packaging. Now it seems their Terminator 2 line may as well.

Apparently the Army of Darkness 2-packs weren't selling as well as they'd hoped, and retailers are more willing to buy a whole case of blind-packaged figures than 2-packs of a main character and an army builder. It also reduces costs, though it remains to be seen if that savings will trickles down to the consumer level or if it'll just go to the manufacturer and retailers' bottom lines.

I'm not happy about this, even though I know there are ways around it (ala the AvP Snap Kits). I really like to see what I'm buying. So long as the case ratios are in the favor of the army-building figures, I don't mind as much. I'll take an extra Gorilla Soldier or Endoskeleton any day, but I'd like a fair shot at a Cornelius or Sarah Conner figure as well.

[Jesse James]

Yeah, not sure how I feel either... 

I don't usually look hard at packaging, and I don't look hard for paint aps unless it's a SW figure, but if this is gonna be a thing where you don't know if you're getting your 4th John Connor or the one figure you do need, then that would suck butt. 

If it's army builders galore, I wouldn't care at all though either.

[Jesse James]

MisterPL (and all),

Got my Hot Toys figure case in the mail today.  WOW.  Kicking ass and taking names.

I have 2 gripes really...

-Fragile...  If you don't heat them with hot water during construction, you risk a lot with these.  I broke a ball/socket on an Alien already and am desperately trying to fix it with a screw/rivet type method...  I shoulda been a neurosurgeon with this kind of intricate work.

-Fall apart Easily...  Kind of more a problem with Predators than Aliens though.  It's annoying that he pops apart a little too easy for my liking. 

Now...

They're fairly poseable figures...  The Aliens are a bit moreso than the Preds, as the preds are hindered at times by looser joints and their armor.  The preds sport tremendously superior detail, which is no slight on the Aliens who are among the most intricately sculpted figures in this scale I've EVER SEEEN. 

The Preds just feature everything from a REAL necklace of mini-skulls (Yes, a piece of string with teeny tiny skulls), to their mesh suits, and separately sculpted teeth pincer thingies.  The Preds just wow you.  Their knives fit in sheaths, their backpack gun swivels and aims with a multi-jointed arm.

To import these it cost $10-ish a figure.  Hasbro just found a new benchmark to meet because I'm sure in Asia these are about the same price as a regular SW figure is in the states.

So these are pretty incredible...  Plus I think I got a chase figure of an Alien.

MisterPL, did you get a red-colored alien?  The packaging doesn't show anything save for a translucent alien, a "grid" alien, a basic "warrior" alien, and a different warrior with his mouth open and the inner-jaws out. 

I also got this RED alien though.  Completely different from the others and not listed on the packaging.  I did not get the Eldar predator which irks me.  I wanted him pretty badly but to no avail.

Did you get that one MisterPL?  Or this red alien?  Or did anyone get one of these for that matter?

[MisterPL]

Sounds like you got the mysterious chase Alien, Jesse. This is the first I've heard of a red Alien. The only figures I got were the "grid" Alien, a Warrior Alien, and one of the Preds.

I hear you about the construction. Heating these in boiling water is the only way to go. I came close to snapping a ball (in more ways than one) early, so I went with the boil & pop method. No problems there.

My joints have stayed pretty tight, but my Predator necklace did come untied, so I have to do something about that. Otherwise, these are some pretty nice figures.

I've got my Pred standing next to my Mynock Hunt Chewie. They look great together. Very chummy.

[Jesse James]

I have the warrior alien holding a limp VOTC Stormtrooper by the head/helmet...  To say this looks cool is an understatement.  Looks like someone just had a run-in with a nasty Imperial bio-weapons experiment. 

The only pred I've put together, and perhaps this was a bad idea, was the clear one.  I found that just visually it's tougher to put together so maybe I should've put together a basic pred.

I'll take pictures with my half-assed hand-me-down camera I got from my gf.  The pics will be sorta grainy but I like having something to take pictures with so she was kind enough to give me her old one here.

I'm thinking if I can get a very thin brass tack, I can cut angled "barbs" in it, and potentially drill a hole THROUGh the broken off ball and a little into the leg of the Alien that I broke the ball off of.  The barbs on the tack should anchor the tack into the plastic then, and if I can sorta form the tack's head so it fits flush with the ball then I should be able to salvage this Alien 100% without losing any range of motion, nor having any visible work I did.

We'll see.

The red alien's somewhat a mystery then since it doesn't list what it is...  I'm sorta curious what its name/species is or whatever.

The grid one's paintjob is funky, and I like that they have see-through skulls too.  The Hot Toyz company went all out on this stuff.  Now, we really need to see some USCM figures because having seen the Predator, I am sure they can knock out human figures that are just as great.

Oh, one other gripe on the predators.

His backpack/hunting gun really kinda blows because his dreds get in the way of it functioning.  I don't have it on my clear pred at all, but I'm pondering a way to maybe customize a pred with "cloth" dreds so I can have one with a working pack/gun.  I dunno.  I found a place I can buy individuals for $9 each so I may just try that then.

[MisterPL]

Now, we really need to see some USCM figures because having seen the Predator, I am sure they can knock out human figures that are just as great.

According to the Hot Toys site, USCM are on the way this year. I'm there.